It has been a good week for poetry. I end on an encouraging note. I owe all that I am, have, and will be to the gracious Lord Who enables me to serve Him. His Benefits are far more than I can tell. I want others to bask in His goodness by submitting to His Son. The benefits are eternal.
Father near, sovereign will Chosen in Christ, what a thrill
Rest from work, all is done ‘It is finished’ by the Son
Peace with God, free from guilt All because Christ’s blood was spilt
Strength to live, sin abate His Spirit does motivate
Stress and strife, like a knife Spirit purifies my life
Help in trials, answers prayers God is gracious and He cares
Hardship here, glory there Joy, comfort beyond compare
Tell good news, with you share Eternal life here and there
Purpose now, glory then Live for Him, soon free from sin
All that’s good, all that’s fair Is found in Christ, jewel so rare
Come again, at the end In His glory, sky will rend
My previous poem, “It Is a Moral Issue”, is in our society largely, I believe, the result of believing that chance, time, matter, and energy (CTME) are the cause of all that we observe. If CTME is our god we have no purpose and no responsibility. But the universe screams a different message:
Nothing random in the way the world works Order and sequence the rule of the day For observers consistency has perks Cause and effect reveal the rules at play
What is the source of this order we see? Of design in the cosmos’s scenery Even random disorder follows laws And beauty is objective and enthralls
Design points to an Architect with skill Information an Intellect reveals Beauty an Artist with canvas to fill Order a Mathematician Who wills
The end of the school year is upon us. It is time for a little reflection and cultural commentary. Caution and disclaimer: This poem might make you mad, or conversely, you might shake your head sadly and say, ‘yes, it’s true’. If we do not take part in the last verse I fear we will not be tolerated very much longer. As one teacher said to me yesterday unprovoked, “We are not approaching crisis; we are in crisis.”
It is a moral issue Lack of motivation Rejecting what is true Rules retaliation Tolerance the only view
It is a moral issue Say neither bad nor good Be careful what you do Even watch thoughts you should Or we will certainly sue
It is a moral issue Immodesty of dress Crudeness of speech in lieu Of more polite address What I want to say and do
It is a moral issue Lack of hygiene and care Knowledge, no want or clue All perversion laid bare Gratification my due
It is a moral issue Stealing what is not yours Cheating and lying too Coveting brings detours Not earn what belongs to you
It is a moral issue With rank and uniform And age and gender too Disrespect is the norm Not even give God His due
It is a moral issue Death is the focus now Black the favorite hue To dark stories they bow Tattoos and piercings not few
It is a moral issue Cry out to God, repent Trust Christ the Savior Who By grace from wraths relent Our hope and nation renew
I can not find the source for “thought, bought, wrought” but I can by my simple poem point once again to God’s glorious salvation for all who will receive it by faith.
Salvation is a great gift Thought by the Father aboveReceived by faith in the workBought by the Son here in loveIn our hearts promoting changeWrought by the Spirit, the Dove
The word wrought means “to work by hand”. I well imagine the Holy Spirit toughening me up by a sanctifying work over so that I am hard and resilient like wrought iron rather than brittle like cast iron. “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design, your dross to consume and your gold to refine,” says the old hymn. The trials are the fire and the hammer is the kind but firm work of the Holy Spirit to make us into the image of the Son.
I have thought about 2 Peter 3 extensively and even written about it (see “Four Singularities”). It is all amazing to me but verses 10-13 are just fascinating:
” But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (underlining mine)
Many of the words describing the demise of the created order as we now know it must certainly be metaphor. Indeed, they must be for our quantum mechanics and relativity still cannot fathom what God will do then. But our present understanding does align with what the Scriptures say and very possibly give us some insight into what God is saying through Peter. I am particularly interested as a student of science in the words I have underlined. I am fully aware that this passing away is not the main point of the passage but rather the certainty of judgment and the certainty of a future home where righteousness dwells and the result of compelling us to live for more permanent things. For these I am thankful. But I still muse on how God accomplishes His works. The word destroyed is variously translated as “destroyed” (NASB, NIV), “dissolved” (HCSB, ESV), and “melt” (KJV). The Greek (anytime I mention this it means I only have a dictionary to look it up in, not more knowledge than that) has the meaning of “loosed, released, dissolved”. “Intense heat” (NASB) is also rendered “burned up” (ESV), “fire” (NIV), “fervent heat” (KJV), and “burn” (HCSB). The word in Greek for “roar” means a “rushing sound”. The word rendered here as “elements” has the meaning of “in a row” as letters or bits of knowledge. These words strongly suggest to me properties of matter and energy. But since Einstein and E = mc2 matter and energy are really convenient descriptions of the same thing. E = m. Energy = matter. c, the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant that relates the two. Since speed of light is so large and squared in the equation, matter is seen to hold “crazy” amounts of energy. When matter is destroyed it becomes energy, and when energy is organized just so it is matter. I like to think of matter as “condensed” energy. That suggests that energy is the fundamental “stuff”. But here is where science becomes vague. What is energy? We know what energy does but we do not know what energy is. It is as Feynman said an abstract idea. Could it not be that our lack of understanding stems from viewing a spiritual matter rather than a totally physical one? The elements roar with intense heat and are released. That sounds like the destruction of all matter into energy to me. All of the particles of matter, discovered and undiscovered (muons, electrons, strange, flavors, and so on) becoming intense abstraction. But the abstraction is real, and what is it?
“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” (Psalm 33:6-9)
God spoke His word and it stood fast. Out of nothing, physically speaking, but out of a substantial word from God, everything. “In the beginning God created….Then God said,” (Genesis 1:1,3) His Word was condensed into physical creation and will one day soon be “melted” into His Word. When it happens will not this Scripture be fulfilled for Creation?
“So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
It, that is His Word, will return to Him in an intense flame out, not empty or simply annihilated, but fully complete in His intention and accomplishment. So all of the elements, atoms in fact, lined up in their orderly fashion, controlled and compelled by fundamental forces will dissolve or melt back into energy. Am I saying energy = God’s Word? Certainly not. But God’s Word accomplishes energy and all His works return after fully accomplishing what He set out for them. It is so with man’s spirit as well:
“For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street.Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:5-7)
So it is with all things. God gets ultimate glory because all things proceed from Him and all will return to Him and be assigned to the place He has ordained for them to be in His presence or excluded from it. In the meantime His Word holds all things together. Is not this the Grand Unified Theory, the Fundamental Force?
“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colosians 1:16-17)
The physical world will be destroyed by thermonuclear annihilation, coming unglued as it were:
“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the works of Your hands;
They will perish, but You remain;
And they all will become old like a garment,
And like a mantle You will roll them up;
Like a garment they will also be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.” (Hebrews 1:10-12)
These words are spoken of Jesus, God the Son, who will not end as the created order will end. He endures and so does His Word. So in the transience of the what seems so permanent I see the permanence of what I have I have seen to be transient. God’s Word is permanent.
I had a good day of bouldering on Tuesday with my son returned from college. I was just not strong enough to make the crux move on an otherwise easy problem. A stranger came along and told me to turn my hip in, dropping my knee. What seemed beyond my strength with my left hand so low suddenly seemed not very difficult. Technique won the day on this problem and two others.
It is so beautiful at this site in general but with the wildflowers and low humidity it was a sight to behold:
May God be exalted and may He strengthen our newest grandchild for this life and the next. Thus, I say the following blessing over this young one.
Ian Stuart may you be blestIn Christ’s salvation learn to restFor this vile world would destroy youPrepare by God’s grace for the testIan, “God is gracious” for sureEnables to be strong and pureEver cling to his sovereign graceAvoid temptation’s constant lureStuart has been a royal nameCarrying quite a bit of fameBut stewards have a charge to keepObeying their Lord without shameFrancis, the name means you are freeMay God grant in every degreeYour mind and frame from worldly foesAnd spirit ever God may seeTake God’s armor ready to fightBy the Spirit’s leading and mightDeep knowledge of God’s Word and prayerSpiritual wisdom and insight
The word is used in a very wide range of ways from a first time acquaintance to an intimate, long-term active relationship. Friendship may be predicated upon a history of common interests or beliefs or based on current needs and interaction. It may have come about and be sustained by relatively shallow common ground like mutual interest in in sports or numerous hobbies or it may rest upon much deeper foundations of kindred spirit, shared goals and beliefs, or enjoyment of each other’s company.
What seems to be common to these ideas is sharing of something in common. There must be some level of agreement between friends. That agreement may even be to exclude certain conversations in order to preserve what is common, but that must result in a level of shallowness in the relationship. Deep friendship must involve an openness to discuss and express a full range of what is important to either person.
Scripture has numerous passages on friendship. Following are but a few that caught my attention:
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17
“For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; so that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty.” Job 6:14
One who will abide in God’s tent does not “take up a reproach against his friend” Psalm 15:3c
“A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24
From these ideas I saw that a friend to me is someone that acts in a certain way. I know that my ideas in this blog are far from complete but they do represent a good starting point for considering what friendship is and what we expect of it. I hope that a person who is my friend will have many of the following characteristics and I certainly want to strive to provide these actions for others:
A friend initiates, listens, confronts, encourages, remembers, takes time, cares, shares, confides, counsels, walks with, forgives, enjoys, endures, believes, advises, stays with a friend.
In God’s economy and calendar, the Spring is past, summer has come, and the Harvest fast approaches. He has laid out for us a a general calendar of His salvation history.
2012-2013JulianCalendar
JewishDay/Month
Feast
New Testament Fulfillment
Old/New Testament Passages
3/26
14 Nisan
Passover
Cross
Exodus 12:1-13
I Corinthians 5:7
Luke 22:19-20
3/27
15
Unleavened Bread
Tomb
Exodus 12:14-20
I Corinthians 5:8
I Peter 1:19
3/28
16
First Fruits
Resurrection
Leviticus 23:9-14
I Corinthians 15:21-23
5/16
6 Sivan
Pentecost
Holy Spirit given
Deuteronomy 16:9-12
Acts 2:1-4, 16-18, 33
9/5
1 Tishri
Trumpets
Christ’s return
Leviticus 23:23-25
I Thessalonians 4:13-18
I Corinthians 15:50-56
The resurrection is the pinnacle of Jesus’ earthly ministry. He exhibits power over death and sin. But it is the beginning of a the great transition of the glorious Son of God. There is a definite connection made between resurrection , ascension, exaltation, and the Holy Spirit being given. Peter makes this progression quite clear to the Council of Sadducees and Pharisees in Acts 5:30-32,“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” As “Prince and Savior” He is both ruler of all and priest to all who believe. Again Peter is explaining the Scriptures about David’s descendant and says, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.” (Act 2:32-33) We need the bodily resurrection to understand the power of Jesus and to validate it to the world, but it is only the beginning of His show of power. Paul expands our idea of His power in Ephesians 1: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His mightwhich He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church.” Why do we not see this overwhelming power exhibited in the world today? Jesus is working out the details of His victory incrementally through the filling up of His sufferings in us (Colossians 1:24). As Peter takes great pains to establish in chapter 1 of his epistle, God has established our imperishable inheritance to strengthen our faith so that we “prepare our minds for action”(I Peter 1:13) against worldly lusts and intense suffering. Many great shows of power will come and for the saints bring great joy: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war”………Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years,”….. and…..“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death” (Revelation 19:11; 20:6; 21:3-4). Yes, the resurrection demonstrates unsurpassed power overcoming death, but even as He is the first fruits of those from the dead so His resurrection power is a first fruits of His unsurpassed power in victory over death, the world, all creation, new creation. He worked at the cross to accomplish God’s plan; He marches in victory to complete all that plan reveals and enables. Let us follow in His train now as at His second coming!
Not from difficulty or frustration or pressure was my day in danger of preventing joy, but from excessively mundane and unwanted pursuit. One need not be bored nor down when the scope of all eternity, the God of the universe, dwells in the heart by grace through faith. So I asked and He provided:
Lord, please give me joy todayThe knowledge of Your presence with meAwareness of all that mayBe fulfilled by Your Spirit in meJoy in Your salvation freeHilarity giving to the poorThe Gospel that they may seeBlessing now, in eternity moreJoy come in, joy reaching outAll God has and will do and nourishHe is great I want to shoutMay His work in our time now flourishGod’s peace in my heart to stayNo regrets to repent or to actClinging to Him, always prayAccepting His Word as ruling factJoy in who I am in HimHappiness in the path He does giveContentment when hard trials ever trimJoy-robbing sin so I liveNow may I sing a new songOf the blessing of knowing my LordOn Him and His works be longRaise voice as I praise afford
I realized when reading the following two questions in our Gospel Project lesson today that they lend well to a positive feedback loop in our lives:
“What role does hope play in our seeking to be faithful to God’s commands?
In what ways can we deepen ‘the roots’ of our hope in God’s promises?” (Winter 2012-13, p.111)
When hope is applied to our lives through the working of God’s Word we are enabled to keep His commands. The Holy Spirit is always enabling and He uses the truth. Keeping His commands will result in confidence and hope that God is active in our lives and the promises apply to us as we review God’s Word. It is a positive feedback loop in that each one increases the other and is life giving.
Godly wisdom is rooted in the fear of God and bears foliage and fruit of godly living, contentment, and witness. Following are supporting Scriptures for the tree at the right:
0. James 1:5
1. Proverbs 1:7, Job 28:28, Matthew 10:28
2. Micah 6:9, Psalm 2:10-11
3. Job 12:12, Proverbs 3:1-2, 16:22
4. Song of Solomon 6:3, Proverbs 5:18
5. Job1:20-21, Proverbs 3:5-6
6. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, Psalm 73:17
7. I Corinthians 1:24,30, Ephesians 1:15-19
The following table contrasts the way of worldly foolishness
and the way of godly wisdom. Our lives as Christians should
exhibit God’s goodness by our wisdom gained from Him:
After showing her some poetry of mine my English-teacher colleague challenged me to write Haiku. I’ve heard of it and maybe even wrote some in high school, but I don’t remember. It turns out to be a quite difficult short form of poetry that juxtaposes two ideas in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables, respectively. It has some other characteristics but that is sufficient for me since I add one other difficulty of my own. I want my poetry to rhyme and I was told traditional Haiku does not. So I asked, ‘Must it not rhyme?’ or ‘May it not rhyme?’ Evidently traditional Japanese Haiku simply does not but in other Asian countries it frequently does. So with all of this swirling in my head I began:
Said she write haiku I don’t know what to pursue Will truth and rhyme do? Haiku has no rhyme For this form I have no time Want my verse to chime Haiku Nazis come Five, seven, five is the sum Juxtapose in some
Then I got a bit more serious and wanted to write more substantial verse:
God’s Son comes in flesh Beauty in flowerControls worlds yet has to rest And in design of towerDied that life flourish Art forms with powerWhat odd design this Transfer sin for holiness God’s death buys us bliss
And to end on a light note, I ‘haiku’d’ (Where’s the Nazis?) science:
Biology, cool! Chemistry, oh my!Growth, reproduce, cells the rule Explosions and baking pieSo look alive fool Electron shift is why Physics tells what movesAccelerates, stops and groovesKnow it all behooves
How do you know you belong to God? How do you know you are going to heaven? Many falsely hope in their own deeds or the one deed of responding to a gospel call.
“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5
God enacts change total, completeMakes what is not so that it isBrings dead ones to new life repleteChrist is one who paid the priceWe trust what Christ did on the crossHe took God’s wrath, it does sufficeConversion is this total changeRepentance and faith is the startPriorities all rearrangeThe Spirit now in you residesYour choice will be to live for HimBy power for life He providesIf no change in your life you seeExamine in what you now trustFor truth in your inner self pleaThat God may have mercy on youConverting your every desireBring real change eternal and trueFaith and repentance are ongoing works of God that we see at work in us.The grace of God is ever with us and He through it has saved us, but the evidence of that past tense occurence is a present tense work in our lives.
Consider Joshua and the children of Israel on the Plains of Moab just after the death of Moses. Are they asking, ‘What now?’ God doesn’t leave them in this position long. He is about to give them the land He promised to their fathers. Yes, there is much history behind this moment. God said to Abraham, “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:8) He puts no conditions on Abraham or his descendents and he calls it an “everlasting possession”. This covenant is as unconditional as they come as stated here. God had delineated the extent of this gift two chapters earlier(Genesis 15:18): “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates”. It is a literal land given unconditionally to the Israel. Later when Moses is talking through the law and its application, just before he dies, he says a curious thing in the light of the promise we have just seen: “Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” (Deuteronomy 4:39-40) So God is giving them the land but the keeping of it is conditioned upon whether or not they obey God? How does that represent an unconditional covenant of everlasting possession when all sin and fall short of God’s glory? Is it possible for this promise to be both conditional and unconditional and God fulfill it both ways? I believe it is and mean to show how. What will God do if Israel obeys? “Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. The Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you. You shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will deliver to you” (Deuteronomy 7:12-16) It seems to me that this passage explains that possession of the land is representative of God providing prosperity, peace, and posterity. Prosperity is seen as abundant food and lack of disease while posterity is children. Peace is given by God’s initial defeat of enemies and continued peace is declared other places.
With this history of being promised the land of Canaan the book of Joshua begins, Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:1-9) The application is as follows: We can take risks because His promises are sure. As Gospel Project author, Jonathan Leeman, says, “Knowing that God is generous and faithful to His promises helps us be strong and courageous because we can trust His character as we pour out our lives for Him.”
Judges 2:11-23 sets forth the cycle of God and Israel’s interaction during the days of the judges. Israel would forsake God for idols. God gave them over to their enemies. Israel cried to go in their distress. God raised up judges to both deliver them from their enemies and direct them to God. As soon as the judge died, the cycle began again. Israel was squandering the good gift God had given them so that the conditional nature of the promise overtook them. Was God unfaithful by not honoring His promise to Abraham? As Ezra and the Levites prayed to God, “However, You are just in all that has come upon us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.” (Nehemiah 9:33) “How does our sin cheapen God’s good gifts (creation, sex, family, etc)?” asks the Leeman (p.59). Using God’s gifts wrongly and pervesely is saying to God the gift was somehow not good enough the way He gave and intended it so I have to improve on it. The term used in Scripture is prostitution, selling ourselves to other gods to pervert God’s gifts for our own temporary pleasure and for hatred of God. God promises to cast such rebels off His land. I believe the land is representative of God’s provision of rest (prosperity, peace, and posterity as I said earlier) so that Hebrews 3:17-4:2 is talking about rest when it refers to God’s actions that cast Israel off the land “And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:17-19)
But God is gracious and faithful to His promises as is hinted at by the book of Ruth. In the second chapter Boaz is introduced as a part of the faithful remnant during the time of the judges who is prosperous, kind to His workers, acknowledges God, and is kind to this alien, Ruth (Ruth 2:1,4,8-9,12). Boaz has prosperity and peace but where’s the posterity? God provides the answer through Ruth (Ruth 4:13-17 ) in the form of their son, Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of King David, the ancestor of Jesus. Boaz had become the kinsman redeemer of Leviticus 25 for the land of Elimelech (Naomi’s deceased husband and Ruth’s father-in-law) and raised up children for his name just as Jesus became the kinsman redeemer of all who will trust in Him to buy them back from the slavery and poverty of sin. By this means Jesus will fulfill the unconditional promise made to Abraham to provide and literal land forever. Micah 4:1-4 prophecies clearly what will happen, “And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains…..For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem….And never again will they train for war. Each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.” There most certainly is a spiritual aspect to the rest of God, a continual faith rest. But that does not exclude literal, believing Israel, past or present or future, and all those who have trusted Jesus, spiritual Israel ( ) from being included on a literal land. I firmly believe that God speaks of both literal land and rest in Hebrews 4:8-11, “For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. so there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” The actual fulfillment of this promise is proclaimed in Revelation 20 and 21. “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” (20:6) Reigning with Christ for a 1000 years is a literal reign on literal land since it delineates a specific time verse nine mentions the location of these events being earth. But 1000 years is not an everlasting possession. God is more than up to the task of completing His promise and remembering every little detail. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (21:1-4) Literally amazing, everlasting peace, prosperity, and posterity provided by God in the everlasting possession for His people. Praise God!
If you haven’t heard of Pearl Fryar’s Topiary Garden in Bishopville, SC, then you may need to check this out. And the best thing about Pearl is he gives glory to God and encouragement to people:
Self-taught, hard-working, friendly, very creative, giving, and down to earth are all adjectives that describe this man.
God has made every human in His image and creativity is part of that image. God has made us stewards here and the artwork this man does beautifies his neighborhood and cheers people. He even does all of this without pesticides and grows Frazier Fir in the heat of South Carolina. I hope to visit his garden one day.
Yeh, it’s my birthday, and many kind people have wished me a happy one for which I am grateful. The best birthday present in a long time? My wife agreed to go on a hike with me to somewhere I’d never been. I assured her it was short and easy, but you’ve got to realize some history here. “How do you know if you haven’t been there?” “Well I don’t really, but it’s on top of the ridge and we’ll be on top of the ridge, and people have said it is easy, and it can’t be too far.” She went without complaining and we enjoyed the time. So I had a party in the wilderness, a wild party, just looking around and enjoying the presence of my wife and a cell phone call from my brother in Ukraine.
“When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur…..Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee: How great thou art! How great thou art!” Consider that the most beautiful scene you have ever seen is part of the tarnished creation- degraded by sin. And the God who made the originally un-degraded creation is far more beautiful than any part of His artwork here. He is unimaginably beautiful in purity, power, and presence. I desire to see His face one day and will because of what Jesus has done for me. I warm up for that day in the dim light of His awe inspiring beauty exhibited in His Creation. If you haven’t been to the Pinnacle off the side of Old NC 105 on the far side of Linville Gorge you should check it out. Enjoy the pictures of one more day He has given me.
Why do we copy wood grain in plastic? Is it because it is simply but wonderfully beautiful? We can only hope to copy and immulate the creativity and beauty the Creator has put into humble items like the pattern of tree growth. He is awesome.
See if you know any of the woodgrains pictured from a humble dwelling: Exhibits #1-8
I like to be in the woods and sometimes I like to be there alone. But many times I prefer to be in the woods with someone for company and sharing the beauty and safety. That frequently presents a problem with scheduling and desire on the part of others. So it came down to 3 hours of light on a Sunday afternoon and a strong desire to see a patch of woods I’d eyed for several years to explore- seven and a half miles of stream crossings and moderately steep terrain in places on a new trail. We had the headlamps and the clothing for a longer stay but in a new neck of the woods that might turn into too long a stay for comfort so we trail ran 1/2 of the distance. My son counted 8 stream crossings. I’m sore today but still glad I did it. I guess I seek adventure now and then.
Hunt Fish Falls
The left picture shows Lost Cove Cliffs. The walk up to Bea Mountain was steep and the walk down was as you see at the right. The woods were quite open with almost no underbrush, perhaps meaning it had not been disturbed for a long time. I enjoyed the time with my son and the adventure of time and place and am thankful that I still have the energy to act a little crazy.
CreatorWorship 
Nothing Truly Random
June 6, 2013 by creatorworship
My previous poem, “It Is a Moral Issue”, is in our society largely, I believe, the result of believing that chance, time, matter, and energy (CTME) are the cause of all that we observe. If CTME is our god we have no purpose and no responsibility. But the universe screams a different message:
Nothing random in the way the world works
Order and sequence the rule of the day
For observers consistency has perks
Cause and effect reveal the rules at play
What is the source of this order we see?
Of design in the cosmos’s scenery
Even random disorder follows laws
And beauty is objective and enthralls
Design points to an Architect with skill
Information an Intellect reveals
Beauty an Artist with canvas to fill
Order a Mathematician Who wills
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